CULTURE vultures can feast on a rare treat tonight, with the chance to watch an opera – well, two performances of the same opera spliced together, actually – in the comfort of your living room.

S4C is broadcasting Verdi’s Otello based on Shakespeare’s play Othello set in Venice. The shows were performed last year at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff and filmed for television at the same time.

But Chirk baritone David Kempster, who plays scheming, Machiavellian Iago with tenor Dennis O’Neill, of Pontarddulais in south Wales, in the title role Otello, says the cameras weren’t intrusive while he was on stage.

He says: “I think the TV people have amalgamated the best bits from the second and third night of the WMC shows into one programme. Viewers will effectively have the best seat in the house. I’m going to have to ask my wife to record it as I’ll be away.”

He remembers the performances clearly. He said: “It was quite interesting to record. You do your performance for the 2,000 people gathered in the theatre but you have to be aware you’re also doing an intimate thing for the TV cameras. The cameras were discreetly placed because the (theatre) audience wants to be undisturbed. But with the technology they can do the most extreme close-ups and fade outs just with three or four cameras strategically situated in the theatre.”

He hopes more opera on TV will convert reality TV addicts to this meatier entertainment.

“Opera is the real deal and there is an audience for it. We have BBC4 and Sky Arts Channels. It can become part of your whole life, domestic life and cultural life.”

Iago, his character, is hellbent on convincing his military boss that Otello’s wife Desdemona (Amanda Roocroft) is unfaithful. He does, even though she isn’t. Talk about no rest for the wicked.

Busy Kempster has just flown back from Dallas where he was singing in a Tudor era opera by Donizetti called Roberto Devereux. And, as we speak, Kempster’s on his mobile phone and standing outside a London Tesco store during a break from rehearsals for his next production. He plays a toreador Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall this month.

Verdi’s Otello is Italian opera at its finest with moving arias, powerful duets and spectacular choruses.

Not a note is wasted as Verdi was determined his audiences would leave the theatre moved and exhilarated. Moments such as Desdemona’s Willow Song and Ave Maria, will haunt you with their beauty long after the curtain has fallen.

While Kempster plays Iago, who has been passed up for promotion in favour of Cassio, Wynne Evans from Carmarthen is Cassio. And the 100-strong Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera bring the gripping score to life.

On his role, Kempster enthuses: “It’s fantastic. Playing the hero can be a two dimensional experience. He can be a bit of a David Beckham, a celebrity.

“But it’s always fun to play the baddie because you don’t get the opportunity in real life. If you do, you don’t make any friends! It’s a good therapeutic exercise.

“Iago is the puppet master. He orchestrates everyone’s demise and takes such relish in watching his plans come together – watching people suffer. He would have made a good politician.

With Iago’s playful but evil asides to the audience, Kempster says there’s a bit of psychological flashing going on. “And he doesn’t repeat his thoughts so word for word it’s probably one of the biggest roles in the Italian repertoire.”

How does he stay fit? He says: “To be honest I’m more concerned with being in shape for the toreador role (in Carmen). I have to fit into a tight oufit which is like a Corn Flakes packet. So I’ve got a rowing machine at home.”

Kempster lives with his wife, the soprano Charlotte Kinder, and their children Dylan, five and Elizabeth, two, in the Lake District. He still makes it back to the Chirk area occasionally, where he still has family.